Search results for: early childhood education

Authors: Priyanka Patil, Logan Manikam

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Background: The first 1000 days of life are a critical window and can result in adverse health consequences due to inadequate nutrition. South-Asian (SA) communities face significant health disparities, particularly in maternal and child health. Community-based interventions, often employing Participatory-Learning and Action (PLA) approaches, have effectively addressed health inequalities in lower-income nations. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of implementing a PLA intervention to improve infant feeding and care practices in SA communities living in London. Methods: Comprehensive analyses were conducted to assess the feasibility/fidelity of this pilot randomized controlled trial. Summary statistics were computed to compare key metrics, including participant consent rates, attendance, retention, intervention support, and perceived effectiveness, against predefined progression rules guiding toward a definitive trial. Secondary outcomes were analyzed, drawing insights from multiple sources, such as The Children’s-Eating-Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ), Parental-Feeding-Style Questionnaires (PFSQ), Food-diary, and the Equality-Impact-Assessment (EIA) tool. A video analysis of children's mealtime behavior trends was conducted. Feedback interviews were collected from study participants. Results: Process-outcome measures met predefined progression rules for a definitive trial, which deemed the intervention as feasible and acceptable. The secondary outcomes analysis revealed no significant changes in children's BMI z-scores. This could be attributed to the abbreviated follow-up period of 6 months, reduced from 12 months, due to COVID-19-related delays. CEBQ analysis showed increased food responsiveness, along with decreased emotional over/undereating. A similar trend was observed in PFSQ. The EIA tool found no potential discrimination areas, and video analysis revealed a decrease in force-feeding practices. Participant feedback revealed improved awareness and knowledge sharing. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that a co-adapted PLA intervention is feasible and well-received in optimizing infant-care practices among South-Asian community members in a high-income country. These findings highlight the potential of community-based interventions to enhance health outcomes, promoting health equity.

Keywords: child health, childhood obesity, community-based, infant nutrition

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Authors: Yei Mian Adrian Yap

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How we idealize the regular schools to be inclusive as much as possible hinges on mainstream teachers’ attitudes and teaching-efficacy towards the inclusion of students with special needs in the regular schools. This research studies the Japanese and Singaporean mainstream teachers’ attitudes and teaching-efficacy towards the inclusion of students with special needs in the regular classrooms by investigating what key variables influence their attitudes and teaching-efficacy and how they strategize to address their challenges to include their students with special needs in their regular classrooms. In order to understand the nature of teachers’ attitudes and teaching-efficacy towards the inclusive education, a mixed-method research methodology was carried out in Japan and Singapore; it involved an explanatory sequential method of employing quantitative research first before qualitative research. In the quantitative research, 189 Japanese and 183 Singaporean teachers were invited to participate in the questionnaires and out of these participants, 38 Japanese and 15 Singaporean teachers shared their views during their semi-structured interviews. Based on the empirical findings, Japanese teachers’ attitudes and teaching-efficacy were more likely to be influenced by their experiences in teaching students with special needs, knowledge about disability legislation, presence of their disabled family members and level of confidence to teach students with special needs. On the other hand, Singaporean teachers’ attitudes and teaching-efficacy were affected by gender, educational level, received trainings in special needs education, knowledge about disability legislation and level of confidence to teach students with special needs. Both country results also demonstrated that there was a positive correlation between their teaching-efficacy and attitude. Narrative findings further expanded the reasons behind these quantitative factors that shaped teachers’ attitudes and teaching-efficacy. Also it discussed the various problems faced by Japanese and Singaporean teachers and how they identified their coping strategies to circumvent their challenges in including their students with special needs in their regular classrooms. The significance of this research manifests in necessary educational reforms in both countries especially in the context of inclusive education. These findings may not be as definitive as expected but it is believed that it could provide useful information on the current situation about teachers’ concerns towards the inclusive education. In conclusion, this research could potentially make its positive contribution to the body of literature on teachers’ attitudes and teaching-efficacy in the context of Asian developed countries and these findings could posit that regular teachers’ positive attitudes and strong sense of teaching self-efficacy could directly improve the success rate of inclusion of students with special needs in the regular classrooms.

Keywords: attitudes, inclusive education, special education, teaching-efficacy

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Authors: Taira Bano

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Cry, the Peacock is a famous novel by Anita Desai which deals with the psychic tumult of a young and sensitive female protagonist, Maya. The novel deals with the in-depth study of the psyche of Maya who is haunted by a childhood prophecy of a fatal disaster. This persistent obsession of death either for her or her husband within four years of their marriage is the main reason for Maya’s neurosis. The novel is not only concerned with the psychological aspect of Maya but is also a strong plea for the rights of women. The novel consists of both psychological as well as feministic elements. The attitude of Maya, not to submit to the authority of her husband gives perfect description of second wave feminism. Feminism is a movement which deals with the issues of inequality between men and women. Psychoanalysis is the study of the psychology of characters. It depicts how an incident in one’s life shapes the personality of an individual. This paper will deal with the study of the novel Cry, the Peacock from psychoanalytic perspective and will try to trace out the reason for such an extreme step that Maya takes in the end of the novel- crossing all the limits of a traditional submissive wife.

Keywords: psyche, psychological, mental, feminist

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Authors: Qing Dai, Zhengkui Lin, Jiajia Zhang, Yi Qu

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Based on activity method, this paper focuses on morning commuting behavior when commuters travel with autonomous vehicles (AVs). Firstly, a net utility function of commuters is constructed by the activity utility of commuters at home, in car and at workplace, and the disutility of travel time cost and that of schedule delay cost. Then, this net utility function is applied to build an equilibrium model. Finally, under the assumption of constant marginal activity utility, the properties of equilibrium are analyzed. The results show that, in autonomous driving, the starting and ending time of morning peak and the number of commuters who arrive early and late at workplace are the same as those in manual driving. In automatic driving, however, the departure rate of arriving early at workplace is higher than that of manual driving, while the departure rate of arriving late is just the opposite. In addition, compared with manual driving, the departure time of arriving at workplace on time is earlier and the number of people queuing at the bottleneck is larger in automatic driving. However, the net utility of commuters and the total net utility of system in automatic driving are greater than those in manual driving.

Keywords: autonomous cars, bottleneck model, activity utility, user equilibrium

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Authors: Merav Hayakac, Orit Avidov-Ungarab

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The current study adopted an interpretive-constructivist approach to examine how senior academics from a large sample of Israeli teacher education colleges serving general or religious populations perceived the integration of digital games into their teacher instruction and what their policy and vision were in this regard in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Half the participants expressed a desire to integrate digital games into their teaching and learning but acknowledged that this practice was uncommon. Only a small minority believed they had achieved successful integration, with doubt and skepticism expressed by some religious colleges. Most colleges had policies encouraging technology integration supported by ongoing funding. Although a considerable gap between policy and implementation remained, the COVID-19 pandemic was viewed as having accelerated the integration of digital games into pre-service teacher instruction. The findings suggest that discussions around technology-related vision and policy and their translation into practice should relate to the specific cultural needs and academic preparedness of the population(s) served by the college.

Keywords: COVID-19, digital games, pedagogy, teacher education colleges

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Authors: Roba Zakariah Shaheen

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In the 21st-century Interior, design pedagogy has developed rapidly due to social and economical factors. Socially, this paper presents research findings that shows a significant relationship between educators and students in interior design education. It shows that students’ personal traits, design process, and thinking process are significantly interrelated. Constructively, this paper presented how personal traits can guide educators in the interior design education domain to develop students’ thinking process. In the same time, it demonstrated how students should use their own personal traits to create their own design process. Constructivism was the theory underneath this research, as it supports the grounded theory, which is the methodological approach of this research. Moreover, Mayer’s Briggs Type Indicator strategy was used to investigate the personality traits scientifically, as a psychological strategy that related to cognitive ability. Conclusions from this research strongly recommends that educators and students should utilize their personal traits to foster interior design education.

Keywords: interior design, pedagogy, constructivism, grounded theory, personality traits, creativity

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Authors: S. Zamir

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The modern era has brought with it significant organizational changes. These changes have not bypassed the academic world, and along with the old academic bonds that include a world of knowledge and ethics, academic faculty members are required more than ever not only to survive in the academic world, but also to thrive and flourish and position themselves as modern and opinionated academicians. Based upon the writings of organizational consultants, the article suggests a 10 X C model for cultivating an academic backbone, as well as emphasizing its input to the professional growth of university and college academics: Competence, Calculations of pain & gain, Character, Commitment, Communication, Curiosity, Coping, Courage, Collaboration and Celebration.

Keywords: academic career, academicians, higher education, the 10xC model

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Authors: Hareem Kausar

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Women of today’s world are energetic, enthusiastic and high-spirited. They tend to be the best in whatever they do and strive to accept and fulfil each challenge with utmost liveliness. The aim of the research was about studying the impact of Maternal Employment on the Child’s Behavioral Development. It was conducted as an initiative to study the impact factor in Pakistani culture and for deep insight to the subject using qualitative research methodology. The samples were interviewed through semi-structured interview method in three phases including two working mothers, two children and a day care center official and the data was collected and analyzed through content analysis. Further, it was linked with the literature from the west and the results show that children of working mothers tend to be sound mentally and physically but at some points they face the inner feeling of solitude. Overall, develop the mechanism in independence in their nature and behavior but maternal employment definitely affects the overall behavioral development of the children.

Keywords: maternal employment, child behavior- development, childhood, impact

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Authors: Emmanuel Onaivi Ajayi, Adewumi John Babafemi

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The use of supplementary cementitious materials as partial replacement for cement is steadily increasing in the construction industry. Concrete produced with these materials has shown significant improvement in durability compared to conventional concrete. However, blended cement concretes produced using these supplementary materials typically gain compressive strength at later ages beyond the 28-day, and this does not favour its use when early age strength is required. Improving the fineness of the supplementary materials could be a way to improving the strength performance of its blended cement concrete. In this paper, the effect of pulverised burnt clay waste fineness on the compressive strength of concrete has been investigated. Two different fineness of pulverised burnt clay waste classified as coarse and fine portions were obtained by sieving the original pulverised burnt clay waste portion through sieve sizes No. 100 (150 µm) and No. 200 (75 µm), respectively. Pulverised burnt clay waste dosages of 0% (control), 10% and 20% by weight of binder were used in producing the concrete mixtures. It is found that the compressive strength of the concrete depends on the fineness and proportion of pulverised burnt clay waste. The result shows improvement in compressive strength at all curing ages with the fine portion pulverised burnt clay waste having the highest strength and improved early age compressive strength.

Keywords: pulverized burnt clay waste, supplementary cementitious materials, compressive strength, pozzolans, fineness

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Authors: Annette Cosgrove

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The objectives of this research study is to examine the impact of professional development in Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) and the digitisation of learning in teaching communities across multiple higher education sites in the ATU (Atlantic Technological University *) ( 2020-2025), including the proposal of an evidence based digital teaching model for use in a future pandemic. The research strategy undertaken for this PhD Study is a multi-site study using mixed methods. Qualitative & quantitative methods are being used in the study to collect data. A pilot study was carried out initially , feedback collected and the research instrument was edited to reflect this feedback, before being administered. The purpose of the staff questionnaire is to evaluate the impact of professional development in the area of TEL, and to capture the practitioners views on the perceived impact on their teaching practice in the higher education sector across ATU (West of Ireland – 5 Higher education locations ). The phenomenon being explored is ‘ the impact of professional development in the area of technology enhanced learning and on teaching practice in a higher education institution.’ The research methodology chosen for this study is an Action based Research Study. The researcher has chosen this approach as it is a prime strategy for developing educational theory and enhancing educational practice . This study includes quantitative and qualitative methods to elicit data which will quantify the impact that continuous professional development in the area of digital teaching practice and technologies has on the practitioner’s teaching practice in higher education. The research instruments / data collection tools for this study include a lecturer survey with a targeted TEL Practice group ( Pre and post covid experience) and semi-structured interviews with lecturers.. This research is currently being conducted across the ATU multisite campus and targeting Higher education lecturers that have completed formal CPD in the area of digital teaching. ATU, a west of Ireland university is the focus of the study , The research questionnaire has been deployed, with 75 respondents to date across the ATU - the primary questionnaire and semi- formal interviews are ongoing currently – the purpose being to evaluate the impact of formal professional development in the area of TEL and its perceived impact on the practitioners teaching practice in the area of digital teaching and learning . This paper will present initial findings, reflections and data from this ongoing research study.

Keywords: TEL, DTL, digital teaching, digital assessment

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Authors: Lois Cheung

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This article examines the impact of League Tables on non-elite universities in the English higher education system. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of rankings in strategic planning by low-ranked universities in this highly competitive higher education market. A sample of non-elite universities was selected for a content analysis based on the measures used by The Guardian rankings. Interestingly, these universities care about their rankings within a single national system. The content analysis appears to be an effective approach to investigating the presence of such influences. It is particularly noteworthy that all sampled universities use these measure terminologies in their strategic plans, missions and news coverage on their institutional web-pages. This analysis may be an example of the key challenges that many low-ranking universities in England are probably facing in the highly competitive and diversified higher education market. These universities use rankings to communicate with their stakeholders, mainly students, in order to fill places to secure their major source of funding. The study concludes with comments on the likely effects of the rankings paradigm in undermining the contributions of non-elite universities.

Keywords: League tables, measures, post-1992 universities, ranking, strategy

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Authors: Naziema Begum Jappie

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In higher education, particularly within South African universities engaged in regional and global collaborations, the integration of intercultural competencies into teaching, learning, and assessment is essential for student success. Intercultural competencies and the digital platform are intwined in the fabric of teaching, learning, and assessments for student success in higher education. These are integral to virtual learning and exchange within higher education, which are expected to develop these competencies. However, this is not always the case because these are not always explicitly integrated into the academic agenda. Despite the prevalence of international students and exchange programmes, there is often a lack of deliberate integration of these competencies into academic agendas, even for South African students from different cultural, ethnic and language groups. This research addresses this gap by examining the impact of infusing intercultural activities into both face-to-face and digital learning platforms. Adopting an intersectional perspective, the study recognizes how social identities interact to shape individuals' self-perceptions and experiences in a university. Methodologically, this study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews to assess the effectiveness of integrating intercultural competencies into digital platforms. Surveys administered to students and faculty measure changes in intercultural skills and attitudes before and after the implementation of targeted interventions. In-depth interviews with participants will provide further insights into the qualitative aspects of these changes, including their experiences and perceptions of the integration process. The research evaluates whether the strategic integration of intercultural competencies into digital platforms enhances students' intercultural skills and social justice awareness. The findings provide valuable insights for higher education academics and internationalization practitioners seeking to develop effective strategies for cultivating intercultural competencies among students.

Keywords: digital platform, higher education, intercultural competencies, interventions

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Authors: Ermias Melake Tesfay

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The importance of evaluation practice and feedback to student advancement and retention has gained importance in the literature over the past ten years. So many issues and cases have been raised about the quality and types of evaluation carried out in higher education and the quality and quantity of student feedback. The aim of this study was to explore the students’ perspectives on the quality of course evaluation practice and feedback in College of Education and College of Science. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data. Data were collected from third-year and fourth-year students of 13 departments in the College of Education and College of Science in Eritrea. A modified Service Performance (SERVPERF) questionnaire and focus group discussions were used to collect the data. The sample population comprised of 135 third-year and fourth-year students’ from both Colleges. A questionnaire using a 5 point Likert-scale was administered to all respondents whilst two focus group discussions were conducted. Findings from survey data and focus group discussions showed that the majority of students hold a positive perception of the quality of course evaluation practice but had a negative perception of methods of awarding grades and administrators’ role in listening to the students complain about the course. Furthermore, the analysis from the questionnaire showed that there is no statistically significant difference between third-year and fourth-year students, College of Education and College of Science and male and female students on the quality of course evaluation practice and feedback. The study recommends that colleges improve the quality of fairness and feedback during course assessment.

Keywords: evaluation, feedback, quality, students' perception

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Authors: Helena Sit

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Developing skills in using ICT in the language classroom has been discussed at all educational levels. Digital tools and learning management systems enable teachers to transform their instructional activities while giving learners the opportunity to engage with virtual communities. In the field of English as a second language (ESL) teaching and learning, the use of technology-enhanced learning and diverse pedagogical practices continues to grow. Whilst technology and multimodal learning is a way of the future for education, second language teachers now face the predicament as to whether implementing these newer ways of learning is, in fact, beneficial or disadvantageous to learners. Research has shown that integrating multimodality and technology can improve students’ engagement and participation in their English language learning. However, students can experience anxiety or misunderstanding when engaging with E-learning or digital-mediated learning. This paper aims to explore how ESL teaching and learning are transformed via the use of educational technology and what impact it has had on student teachers. Case study is employed in this research. The study reviews the growing presence of technology and multimodality in university language classrooms, discusses their impact on teachers’ pedagogical practices, and proposes scaffolding strategies to help design effective English language courses in the Australian education context. The study sheds light on how pedagogical integration today may offer a way forward for language teachers of tomorrow and provides implications to implement an evidence-informed approach that blends knowledge from research, practice and people experiencing the practice in the digital era.

Keywords: educational technology, ICT in higher education, curriculum design and innovation, teacher education, multiliteracies pedagogy

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Authors: Suzy Pereira, Alberto Rocha, Ana Almeida, Catarina Figueiredo, Helena Fonseca, Leonor Moreira, Carla Blum Vestena, Cristina Costa-Lobo

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The socio-educational support to parents, through parental education intervention programs, is part of European social policies, aiming to respond to the needs of education, promotion of well-being and development of children and young people. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the impact of the Positive Parenting Program on the subjective well-being of the parents of gifted children. The Positive Parenting Program is authored and is conducted by the National Association of Study and Intervention in Giftedness, Portuguese Association. The central question to be explored in this research is: Does the promotion of positive parenting in parents of gifted children have a positive impact on the subjective well-being? The sample consisted of 30 parents, non-probabilistic sampling of convenience, of which 15 parents belong to the intervention group and the rest to the control group. One dimension will be evaluated - subjective well-being, through the PANAS questionnaire - before and after the sessions of this program. The aim is to contribute to the understanding of the process and results of the positive parenting program in parents of gifted children.

Keywords: positive parenting, subjective well-being, giftedness, parental education intervention programs

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Authors: Awatef Hicheur Cairns, Billel Gueni, Hind Hafdi, Christian Joubert, Nasser Khelifa

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Given the ever changing needs of the job markets, education and training centers are increasingly held accountable for student success. Therefore, education and training centers have to focus on ways to streamline their offers and educational processes in order to achieve the highest level of quality in curriculum contents and managerial decisions. Educational process mining is an emerging field in the educational data mining (EDM) discipline, concerned with developing methods to discover, analyze and provide a visual representation of complete educational processes. In this paper, we present our distributed computation platform which allows different education centers and institutions to load their data and access to advanced data mining and process mining services. To achieve this, we present also a comparative study of the different clustering techniques developed in the context of process mining to partition efficiently educational traces. Our goal is to find the best strategy for distributing heavy analysis computations on many processing nodes of our platform.

Keywords: educational process mining, distributed process mining, clustering, distributed platform, educational data mining, ProM

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Authors: Ainur Bulasheva

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During the last decade, the dual learning system (DLS) has been actively introduced in various industries in Kazakhstan, including both vocational, post-secondary, and higher education levels. It is a relatively new practice-oriented approach to training qualified personnel in Kazakhstan, officially introduced in 2012. Dual learning was integrated from the German vocational education and training system, combining practical training with part-time work in production and training in an educational institution. The policy of DLS has increasingly focused on decreasing youth unemployment and the shortage of mid-level professionals by providing incentives for employers to involve in this system. By participating directly in the educational process, the enterprise strives to train its future personnel to meet fast-changing market demands. This study examines the effectiveness of DLS from the perspective of employers to understand the motivations of businesses to participate (invest) in this program. The human capital theory of Backer, which predicts that employers will invest in training their workers (in our case, dual students) when they expect that the return on investment will be greater than the cost - acts as a starting point. Further extensionists of this theory will be considered to understand investing intentions of businesses. By comparing perceptions of DLS employers and non-dual practices, this study determines the efficiency of promoted training approach for enterprises in the Kazakhstan agri-food industry.

Keywords: vocational and technical education, dualeducation, human capital theory, argi-food industry

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Authors: Sepdiana W. Rahmawati, Santi A. P. Anggraini

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The world of education has made progress with the various new technologies with help of computer. No exception physics education, especially virtual physics practical work. By doing practical work, memory of physics concept will be more advantageous for student and they will understand the essence of actual physics, not only spiked formula. With help of computers, created a variety of applications that can be used by students to perform virtual practical work and students will start thinking systematically to be able find its own concepts and understand the application of physics.

Keywords: essence of physics, formation concept, physics concept, virtual practical work

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Authors: Antoni Grau, Yolanda Bolea, Alberto Sanfeliu

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Embedding Sustainability in technological curricula has become a crucial factor for educating engineers with competences in sustainability. The Technical University of Catalonia UPC, in 2008, designed the Sustainable Technology Excellence Program STEP 2015 in order to assure a successful Sustainability Embedding. This Program takes advantage of the opportunity that the redesign of all Bachelor and Master Degrees in Spain by 2010 under the European Higher Education Area framework offered. The STEP program goals are: to design compulsory courses in each degree; to develop the conceptual base and identify reference models in sustainability for all specialties at UPC; to create an internal interdisciplinary network of faculty from all the schools; to initiate new transdisciplinary research activities in technology-sustainability-education; to spread the know/how attained; to achieve international scientific excellence in technology-sustainability-education and to graduate the first engineers/architects of the new EHEA bachelors with sustainability as a generic competence. Specifically, in this paper authors explain their experience in leading the STEP program, and two examples are presented: Industrial Robotics subject and the curriculum for the School of Architecture.

Keywords: sustainability, curricula improvement, robotics, STEP program

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Authors: Soumaya Gharssallah Falhi, Houda Kohli Kallel

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This article explores the emergence of prehistoric art within the Homo Sapiens species, highlighting their innovative and pioneering characteristics. It investigates the cultural, artistic, and technological advancements that define this era, aiming to understand the importance of prehistoric art in illuminating the nature of early Homo Sapiens as cultural pioneers. The study employs a qualitative approach, analyzing the connection between prehistoric art and tribal cultures to gain insights into ancient societies. By examining various theories and perspectives on art creation during this period, the research underscores the transformative impact of artistic expression on societal development. Findings reveal that prehistoric art played a significant role in portraying Homo Sapiens as innovative beings, showcasing advancements in cultural, artistic, and technological domains. It emphasizes the enduring legacy of ancient art forms in shaping modern societal norms and values. Through data gathered from archaeological findings, literary sources, and expert opinions, the study contributes to the theoretical understanding of prehistoric art as a reflection of early human societies' mindset and way of life. Overall, this research highlights the pivotal role of prehistoric art in cultural evolution and emphasizes its relevance in contemporary understandings of human creativity and progress.

Keywords: Homo sapiens, prehistoric art, cave art, the old stone age (paleolithic era)

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Authors: Ovidiu Domşa, Nicolae Bold

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Using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) notions in education and three basic processes of education (teaching, learning and assessment) can bring benefits to the pupils and the professional development of teachers. In this matter, we refer to these notions as concepts taken from the informatics area and apply them to the domain of education. These notions refer to genetic algorithms and arborescent structures, used in the specific process of assessment or evaluation. This paper uses these kinds of notions to generate subtrees from a main tree of tests related between them by their degree of difficulty. These subtrees must contain the highest number of connections between the nodes and the lowest number of missing edges (which are subtrees of the main tree) and, in the particular case of the non-existence of a subtree with no missing edges, the subtrees which have the lowest (minimal) number of missing edges between the nodes, where a node is a test and an edge is a direct connection between two tests which differs by one degree of difficulty. The subtrees are represented as sequences. The tests are the same (a number coding a test represents that test in every sequence) and they are reused for each sequence of tests.

Keywords: chromosome, genetic algorithm, subtree, test

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Authors: Ruilin Zhu, Katarzyna Olcoń, Rose M. Pulliam, Dorie J. Gilbert

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Cultural humility is increasingly important in social work literature, given its emphasis on mitigating power imbalances in helping relationships, particularly across cultural differences. Consequently, there is a need to understand whether and how cultural humility can be taught in social work education. Relying on ethnographic observations and reflective journals from a cultural immersion program, this study identified the learning process required to develop cultural humility: confusion and discomfort, re-moulding, and humility in action.

Keywords: social work education, cultural humility, transformative learning theory, study abroad, ethnographic observations

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Authors: Goutam Kumar Ghorai, Sandip Sadhukhan, Arpita Sarkar, Debprasad Sinha, G. Sarkar, Ashis K. Dhara

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Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common chronic diseases in all countries and continues to increase in numbers significantly. Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is damage to the retina that occurs with long-term diabetes. DR is a major cause of blindness in the Indian population. Therefore, its early diagnosis is of utmost importance towards preventing progression towards imminent irreversible loss of vision, particularly in the huge population across rural India. The barriers to eye examination of all diabetic patients are socioeconomic factors, lack of referrals, poor access to the healthcare system, lack of knowledge, insufficient number of ophthalmologists, and lack of networking between physicians, diabetologists and ophthalmologists. A few diabetic patients often visit a healthcare facility for their general checkup, but their eye condition remains largely undetected until the patient is symptomatic. This work aims to focus on the design and development of a fully automated intelligent decision system for screening retinal fundus images towards detection of the pathophysiology caused by microaneurysm in the early stage of the diseases. Automated detection of microaneurysm is a challenging problem due to the variation in color and the variation introduced by the field of view, inhomogeneous illumination, and pathological abnormalities. We have developed aconvolutional neural network for efficient detection of microaneurysm. A loss function is also developed to handle severe class imbalance due to very small size of microaneurysms compared to background. The network is able to locate the salient region containing microaneurysms in case of noisy images captured by non-mydriatic cameras. The ground truth of microaneurysms is created by expert ophthalmologists for MESSIDOR database as well as private database, collected from Indian patients. The network is trained from scratch using the fundus images of MESSIDOR database. The proposed method is evaluated on DIARETDB1 and the private database. The method is successful in detection of microaneurysms for dilated and non-dilated types of fundus images acquired from different medical centres. The proposed algorithm could be used for development of AI based affordable and accessible system, to provide service at grass root-level primary healthcare units spread across the country to cater to the need of the rural people unaware of the severe impact of DR.

Keywords: retinal fundus image, deep convolutional neural network, early detection of microaneurysms, screening of diabetic retinopathy

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Authors: Simon Ibor Akpama

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The study investigated the extent to which innovative teaching-learning techniques can influence and attenuate learning difficulties among adult learners participating in different literacy education programmes in Calabar Metropolis, Cross River State, Nigeria. A quasi-experimental design was adopted to collect data from a sample size of 150 participants of the programme. The sample was drawn using the simple random sampling method. As an experimental study, the 150 participants were divided into two equal groups –the first was the experimental group while the second was the control. A pre-test was administered to the two groups which were later exposed to a post-test after treatment. Two instruments were used for data collection. The first was the guide for the Literacy Learning Difficulties Inventory (LLDI). Three hypotheses were postulated and tested as .05 level of significance using Analysis of Covariance (ANOVA) test statistics. Results of the analysis firstly showed that the two groups (treatment and control) did not differ in the pre-test regarding their literacy learning difficulties. Secondly, the result showed that for each hypothesis, innovative teaching-learning techniques significantly influenced adult learners’ (participants) literacy learning difficulties. Based on these findings, the study recommends the use of innovative teaching-learning techniques in adult literacy education centres to mitigate the learning difficulties of adult learners in literacy education programmes in Calabar Metropolis.

Keywords: teaching, learning, techniques, innovative, difficulties, programme

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Authors: Daniel Ecler

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This paper aims to compare the data obtained using semi-structured questionnaires and find some connections between them, which could help to understand what factors affect the perception of the advantages and disadvantages of distance learning compared to conventional education. The data collected came from respondents from Czech and Chinese university students, and expectations were such that the different cultural environments from which the two groups come would have an impact on different experiences of distance education. With the help of variation-finding comparison, it turned out that Chinese students did not have such difficulties with the transition to distance learning as students from the Czech Republic, as most of them came into contact with some form of distance education in the past. In addition, it has also been shown that Chinese students use modern technology to a much greater extent, which has also made it easier for them to become accustomed to another form of teaching. In conclusion, Chinese students have greater preconditions for easier management of distance learning, while Czech students prefer more personal contact, and thus full-time teaching. It is obvious that both approaches have their pros and cons; now, it is necessary to find out how to use them for maximum efficiency of the educational process.

Keywords: Chinese college students, cultural background, Czech college students, distance learning, full-time teaching

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Authors: Omotayo Abidemi Funmilayo

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Skill acquisition in professional fields has been prioritized and considered important to demonstrate the mastery of subject matter and present oneself as an expert in such profession. The ability to acquire skills in different fields, however calls for different method from the instructor or teacher during training. Music is not an exception of such profession, where there exist different area of skills acquisition require practical performance. This paper, however, focused on the impact and effects of different methods on acquisition of practical knowledge in the handling of some musical instruments among the students of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo. In this study, 30 students were selected and divided into two groups based on the selected area of learning, further division were made on each of the two major groups to consist of five students each, to be trained using different methodology for two months and three hours per week. Comparison of skill acquired were made using standard research instrument at reliable level of significance, test were carried out on the thirty students considered for the study based on area of skill acquisition. The students that were trained on the keyboard and saxophone using play way method, followed by the students that were trained using demonstration method while the set of students that received teaching instruction through lecture method performed below average. In conclusion, the study reveals that ability to acquire professional skill on handling musical instruments are better enhanced using play way method.

Keywords: music education, skill acquisition, keyboard, saxophone

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Authors: A. Maftei, A. C. Holman

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The emergence of self-knowledge and personal representations of self in children has been subject to a variety of studies. The complex process of developing the moral self in childhood is one of the most interesting interplays of biological tendencies and socialization contexts. We were interested in exploring the potential interaction between children’s media skepticism, altruism, self and others' moral representations in a series of tasks related to potential prospective moral licensing mechanisms. In our pilot study, the answers of 67 children aged 8 to 10 years (50 % females) to a series of moral perspectives and altruism tasks were subject to mixed analysis (both qualitative and quantitative). Results suggested no significant association between the moral valence of media information and children’s altruism, self and others’ moral future perspective. Results are discussed within the Construal Level, Assimilation and Contrast theories, and moral licensing mechanisms.

Keywords: children, altruism, moral licensing, media skepticism, moral valence

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Authors: Leah Plocharczyk, Matthew Conner

Abstract:

This paper analyzes the relatively new trend of PSE programs which seek to provide education, vocational training, and a college experience to individuals with an intellectual and developmental disability (IDD). Specifically, the paper examines the degree of interaction between PSE programs and the libraries of their college campuses. Using ThinkCollege, a clearinghouse and advocate for PSE programs, the researchers identified 293 programs throughout the country. These were all contacted with an email survey asking them about the nature of their involvement, if any, with the academic libraries on their campus. Where indicated by the responses, the libraries of PSE programs were contacted for additional information about their programming. Responses to the survey questions were tabulated and analyzed quantitatively. Written comments were analyzed for themes which were then tabulated. This paper presents the results of this study. They show obvious preferences for library programming, such as group formal instruction, individual liaisons, embedded reference, and various instructional designs. These are discussed in terms of special education principles of mainstreaming, level of restriction, training demands and cost effectiveness. The work serves as a foundation for best practices that can advance the field.

Keywords: disability studies, instructional design, universal design for learning, assessment methodology

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Authors: Luke Power, Paul O'Leary

Abstract:

Research has long described the enhancement of student engagement as a fundamental aim of delivering a consistent, lifelong benefit to student success across the multitude of dimensions a quality HE (higher education) experience offers. Engagement may take many forms, with Universities and Institutes across the world attempting to define the parameters which constitutes a successful student engagement framework and implementation strategy. These efforts broadly include empowering students, encouraging involvement, and the transfer of decision-making power through a variety of methods with the goal of obtaining a meaningful partnership between students and staff. As the Republic of Ireland continues to observe an increasing population transferring directly from secondary education to HE institutions, it falls on these institutions to research and develop effective strategies which insures the growing student population have every opportunity to engage with their education, research community, and staff. This research systematically reviews SPAs (student partnership agreements) which are currently in the process of being defined, and/or have been adopted at HE institutions, worldwide. Despite the demonstrated importance of a student-staff partnership to the overall student engagement experience, there is no obvious framework or model by which to begin this process. This work will therefore provide a novel analysis of student-staff agreements which will focus on examining the factors of success common to each and builds towards a workable and applicable framework using critical review, analysis of the key words, phraseology, student involvement, and the broadly applicable HE traits and values. Following the analysis, this work proposes SPA ‘toolkit’ with input from key stakeholders such as students, staff, faculty, and alumni. The resulting implications for future research and the lessons learned from the development and implementation of the SPA will aid the systematic implementation of student-staff agreements in Ireland and beyond.

Keywords: student engagement, student partnership agreements, student-staff partnerships, higher education, systematic review, democratising students, empowering students, student unions

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Authors: Gaston Bacquet

Abstract:

In light of existing social and structural violence in Chilean higher education which has resulted in instances of inequality, exclusion and discrimination, this research study attempted to provide trainee teachers in Chile with non-violent tools to deal with the tensions arising from these issues. Through a participatory action research design framed within a series of non-violent, non-Western perspectives, this study provided co-participants with opportunities to discuss current problems affecting HE in Chile stemming from the aforementioned violence, to think about strategies to address these and the challenges they might encounter. The study, which involved two different groups of trainee teachers from Chilean universities, consisted of two iterations of the action research cycle (planning – acting – observing – reflecting) carried out over two 3-months periods. Findings reveal instances of forced cultural assimilation, bullying, and direct and structural violence as key issues to address, and a strong individualistic mindset trumping collective well-being as the main challenge to bring non-violent strategies into their classrooms.

Keywords: non-violence education, contemplative pedagogy, participatory action research, dialogical education

Procedia PDF Downloads 93